The countess of Cornwall
by ShizukoSaka
Summary: Mey Rin leaves the Phantomhive household, because of a job offer from her old boss: She has to get married with the count of Cornwall. But what happens if a Butler comes in the way of the plans?
1. Leaving

**Chapter 1 **

****_**"**__Maylene we need you to do a job for us." a low male voice said. "It is you who can do that job perfectly. Never forget that you come from the underground of London and you're one of the most feared and sneaky assassins around here." Hampton McFarland, a dark brown haired man in his mid 30's, was trying his hardest to persuade Maylene to come back to their organization and wrap Lord Lawford of Cornwell around her finger and marry him. It would all work out perfectly, but only if Maylene agrees to leave the Phantomhive household.  
>Maylene was walking around her whole room. Her glasses rested on the nightstand, while she was moving around, one hand up to her chin, displaying that she was thinking hardly. Just a few minutes ago, she had greeted Hampton McFarland at the back entrance of the Phantomhive manor, taking care that everyone in the mansion was already asleep and wouldn't notice the secret visitor. Hampton was an old companion of Maylene. She still knew him from her times as assassin. A few days ago he had messaged her that he would come and pay her visit to discuss something very important with her.<br>"It is you who can carry it out our organization's plan perfectly." Hampton insisted, hoping that she would give in. "And how does this plan, I can perfectly carry out, look like?" Maylene asked Hampton with a very wary intonation in her voice. "If I'll tell you the plan in all details, will you promise to resign your job as maid here and come with me?" Hampton had to make sure that everything was according to plan and for that he needed Maylene to guarantee him that she would resign her job at the Phantomhive mansion.  
>"Will you tell me that plan first? I will then decide whether I go with you or not." she replied to him with a very serious looking face. She wasn't really happy about that offer. She was happy as a maid here. Why should she wish for another job? Master Ciel, Bard, Finny, Mr. Tanaka, Lady Elizabeth, Mr. Sebastian... if she agreed to the offer, she had to leave behind all those people. And wasn't eager to do so, unless Hampton's offering was interesting enough.<br>Hampton sighed. "I'm sorry Maylene. I can only tell people who are __**involved**__ in the plan, about the plan. You understand? I can't bring you into loop as long as you don't say for sure that you're going with me and the organization." He could see that Maylene was in a difficult situation in deciding what she wanted to do. He knew, in that very moment he was sitting there, Maylene was thinking, interrogating all the pro's and contras of the offer, in her mind.  
>Maylene sighed in defeat. She would take the offer, although it was hard for her to leave, but why not trying another way? Also...she had to admit that sustaining the farce of a clumsy good for nothing maid began to mock her. "Fine Hampton. I agree to your ultimatums and I will take the offer and resign from being a maid. And now tell me what the plan is..."<em>

As usual, all the servants were late to get up and Sebastian ended up to go through all rooms and throw them out of their beds. After waking up Bard and Finny from their sleep in a very ungentle manner, Sebastian knocked against Maylene's door very loudly. As there was no answer, he opened the door, only to find that it was empty. The room looked neatly tidied. Maylene's maid outfit was consolidated together with her glasses. On the nightstand was a little yellowed paper, folded together. Sebastian walked over to the nightstand and took the paper into his hands. He eyed it for a long while, before he turned around and hurried to the Master Ciel's office.  
>Sebastian was now standing in the middle of Ciel's office. "Master Ciel." the demon butler began and greeted his Master Ciel with a bow. "Yes,Sebastian?"<br>"My lord, I think someone left the Phantomhive mansion."  
>"And how do you come to that idea and over who we're talking about?" Ciel shifted in his seat, leaning forward to rest his head on his arm that rested upon his wooden desk. "Speak,Sebastian!" Sebastian silently unfolded the paper and hold it in front of Ciel. <p>

Two single words were written on the paper in an elegant old English handwriting:  
>"Thank you" <span><strong><br>**


	2. Lady Maylene

The countess of Cornwell  
><span><strong>Chapter 2<br>**Life continued in the Phantomhive mansion after Mey Rin has left. The servants first were mourning over the loss of their precious co-worker , but daily routine came back quite fast. 

It has been 3 years since she has left and now it was spring...

The young heir of the successful Phantomhive toy company sat in his office like every day and he waited for his dessert and newspapers to come through the door, delivered by Sebastian. And slow but steady the young master Ciel grew impatient. "Sebastian!" his voice thundered across the room and could even be heard from outside. A few seconds later the butler entered the room with a smirk upon his face. "Impatient as ever, young master." The butler sliding a buffet car in front of him. Placed upon it was a tea set, a pot full of freshly brewed Earl Grey tea, the dessert and the newspaper from today.  
>Sebastian placed everything in front of the young master and finished the preparations by handing over the newspaper. "Today we have a Clementine and lemon Posset, a deliciously tangy pudding. Originally a Posset was a drink made from hot milk and honey, spiced and laced with ale or wine. It was popular in the Middle Ages as a remedy for colds and also appeared in Shakespeare's MacBeth. It was years later that it became a thickened cream dessert, flavoured usually with honey and lemon. This Posset is made from the juice of Clementines and lemon to create a tangy, moreish yet light dessert." While the butler registered one fact after the other about today's dessert, the young master was skipping through the newspaper, not caring even one bit about those said facts.<br>Ciel abruptly stopped skipping as he caught the sight of a familiar, very familiar face on a photo. It was in black and white, but even in that state, the young master could exactly tell who this person on the picture was that seems so familiar to him. Aghast he stared at the photo with eyes wide open. The surprise of the young master Ciel wasn't hidden from Sebastian,of course. "Young master is something the matter?" the butler asked.  
>Ciel handed the paper over to Sebastian. "Read this out loud." he ordered. "Count of Cornwell is finally engaged!" the butler read the headline. "Great BritainCornwell- After a long journey of searching for the right woman to marry, Lord Connell Lawford the count of Cornwall finally found his true love to marry. The name of the lucky woman is Lady Maylene McFarland. The proposal the count has made to his lady of choice was well planned and very romantic as well as their story how they fell in love with. Lady Maylene was first introduced to Lord Lawford by her brother Hampton McFarland, good friend of Lord Lawford since their childhood and advisor of the count. After this first meeting, regular visitations followed. They laughed, they went for walks and get to know each other better and better until they fell in love. Yesterday Lord Lawford proposed to Lady Maylene with a pretentious ceremony. 200 royal guests were invited to share this special moment with the couple. Following this, the guests and the couple were celebrating the engagement with a huge engagement festivity. The wedding is planned for August this year as Autumn wedding." Sebastian put the newspaper away and eyed the young master very intensely not to miss even one of his reactions and to read what the young master was thinking. Apparently Maylene was Lady Maylene now and engaged to a count. That's quite some development after all those years. Sebastian had to admit that he was quite impressed how the ex maid of Phantomhive blossomed out.  
>"That is odd..." Ciel said after a long while. "What is odd,young master?" Sebastian immediately asked, but he already new what the young master was wondering about. "Maylene never told that she had a brother. On contrary. She said she has no family at all and now she suddenly has a brother named Hampton McFarland? I have the strange feeling that something is rotten here." Sebastian began to slightly smirk, because he also knew what the young master would order him to do next. "Sebastian...I want you to observe this matter."<p>

Meanwhile 238 miles away from London, in the beautiful harbour town Plymouth, a Lady was having her lunch in one the dining halls in the castle she now lived in. She sat at a Victorian style table which was ornamented with little wood carvings and enjoyed her lamb cutlets. Beside her sat her so called "brother" with today's newspapers in his hands. He was grinning widely. "Everything is according to plan, Maylene. Soon you're going to be the countess of Cornwell. I knew you would be the best to carry out this job." he praised her. "What a delight. It really did pay out that we made you attend to a lady and royal etiquette school and turn you into _Lady Maylene_." Maylene just rolled with her eyes. She finished her food, drank some wine to it and got up. "I'm just doing my job." she stated as she turned around on her heels and elegantly walked out of the dining hall, her Victorian fashioned dress swaying with each of her movements. "The boss will be delighted." Hampton smirked deviously satisfied, savouring his wine the fullest.


End file.
